Abkhazia and South Ossetia celebrated independence

In Tskhinvali yesterday automatic and machine gun fire was heard again. They were also heard in Sukhumi. This is how the residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia greeted the news of Russia’s recognition of these republics.

As soon as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced his decision to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the first shots were fired in both now recognized republics. They fired into the air from rifles, pistols, machine guns and even grenade launchers. In Tskhinvali, people immediately began to gather in the central square of the city. It’s unknown where microphones and amplifiers came from - anyone could use them. Cars flew past the square at great speed, with the flags of Russia and South Ossetia flying. "Russia, Russia!" - people shouted. The ringing of bells floated over the city. And the automatic and machine-gun fire did not subside.

“The bullets won’t be of any use anyway,” shouted a young man, shooting out ammunition from a Kalashnikov assault rifle in the middle of the street. “Finally, it’s happened—we’re free!”

By five o'clock more than 2 thousand people had gathered in the square. They congratulated and hugged each other. Many people lined up for the microphone.

— Brothers, we have always believed that Russia will fulfill its promise. But we didn’t think that this would happen so soon,” the elderly man said, barely holding back tears. “Now we can forget about the war forever, and our children will be able to sleep peacefully at night.”

— Russia has finally risen from its knees. She helped us. This is a great holiday for everyone, this is a great victory,” said South Ossetian Security Council Secretary Anatoly Barankevich, the main organizer of the recent defense of Tskhinvali.

People came and went from the square. Many of them got into the cars of complete strangers and drove along the city streets.

“Everyone who fled this war to Russia and has now returned is celebrating,” Tskhinvali resident Aslan Gabaraev tells Kommersant. “And those who did not return will now definitely do so.” Because they fled from the war, and now there will be peace.

However, not everyone celebrated independence. About 50 people headed to the courtyard of the bombed fifth school, where there has been a cemetery since the time of the first Georgian-Ossetian war. There was no atmosphere of joy here that reigned in the rest of the city: among the mangled graves, people opened bottles of alcohol, filled glasses and, according to Ossetian custom, spilled their contents on the headstones.

“You didn’t die in vain,” said the guy in camouflage, who never took off the white bandage from his arm, an identification mark during the recent battle for Tskhinvali. “Look what is happening in your homeland today - it is rejoicing, but without you this would not have happened.” .

“It’s very hard to have fun when every family has a funeral,” Irina Gagloeva, press secretary of the commission for the restoration of South Ossetia, told Kommersant in an excited voice. “Today I saw a funeral in the Kozaev family.” There, an 18-year-old boy knocked out a Georgian tank and died himself. And his father learned about the confession over the coffin and said that he would celebrate this great joy, but not now.

The independence of South Ossetia was also celebrated in Vladikavkaz. An hour after Dmitry Medvedev’s statement became known, the head of North Ossetia, Taimuraz Mamsurov, congratulated “the peoples of Abkhazia and all of Ossetia in the north and south.” “The efforts of the most just and humane state on the planet, Russia, stopped the bloodshed,” he said. “I hope Russia will never regret the step it took.”

However, the celebrations in the capital of North Ossetia were much more restrained than in Tskhinvali.

“Now is not the time to vigorously express joy,” ex-Prime Minister of South Ossetia Oleg Teziev, who lives in Vladikavkaz, told Kommersant. “40 days must pass when we mourn the dead, and then we can shoot in the air.”

In Abkhazia, where there was no mourning, shooting began immediately after Dmitry Medvedev’s address and did not stop until the night. Residents of Sukhumi rushed to Freedom Square with weapons in their hands, where general fraternization began. At about five in the evening, President Sergei Bagapsh arrived at the square.

“We dedicate this wonderful day to those who did not live to see this day. We bow to the mothers who raised sons who laid their heads on the altar of freedom and independence of Abkhazia,” he said. “We rightfully deserve this victory, since we have always had our own statehood.” The age-old dream of the people of Abkhazia has been brought to life.

Then Abkhaz national music was played on Freedom Square. Everyone started dancing. People cried, hugged, waved flags and again fired into the air with all types of weapons. There were especially many people shooting from captured American machine guns captured as a result of a special operation in the Kodori Gorge. One of them, a young guy in camouflage, excitedly shouted to a Kommersant correspondent as he fired the clip of a brand new machine gun:

“I would never have thought that on this day I would shoot from an American rifle donated to Georgia!”

Alexander Kommersant-Gabuev; Zaur Kommersant-Farniev, Tskhinvali; Angela Kommersant-Kuchuberia, Sukhumi

Holiday with a machine gun in front of your eyes